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Hereafter
Afterlife Book One
Terri Bruce
Genre: Paranormal/Contemporary Fantasy
Publisher: Mictlan Press / Date of Publication: January 20, 2014
ISBN: 978-0-9913036-0-1 / ISBN: 978-0-9913036-1-8
Number of pages: 369 / Word Count: 111,000
Cover Artist: Shelby Robinson
BOOK DESCRIPTION
Thirty-six-year-old Irene Dunphy didn’t plan on dying any time soon, but that’s exactly what happens when she makes the mistake of getting behind the wheel after a night bar-hopping with friends. She finds herself stranded on earth as a ghost, where the food has no taste, the alcohol doesn’t get you drunk, and the sex…well, let’s just say “don’t bother.” To make matters worse, the only person who can see her—courtesy of a book he found in his school library—is a fourteen-year-old boy genius obsessed with the afterlife.
Unfortunately, what waits in the Great Beyond isn’t much better. Stuck between the boring life of a ghost in this world and the terrifying prospect of three-headed hell hounds, final judgment, and eternal torment in the next, Irene sets out to find a third option—preferably one that involves not being dead anymore. Can she wipe the slate clean and get a second chance before it’s too late?
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MY REVIEW
“Why are you staring at me?”
“Well, it’s just, because…you know. You’re…” “Well…dead”
When she awoke in the morning, it all came back to her. She had searched the web for information about ghosts and the after life, but found nothing describing her situation.
She got in the shower and brushed her teeth. She felt, just because she was dead, that 
was no reason she shouldn’t take care of normal hygiene.
Suddenly, it came to her. There must be others in the same situation as hers. So she left the house in search of more answers.
When Irene waved to Mrs. Boine, she waved back. She ran up on the porch and began talking to her, only to find out she was dead too. As they talked two little girls came out asking for Grandma to push them. Mrs. Boine told Irene that they couldn’t see her, yet they knew she was there.
Irene came right out and asked Mrs. Boine what she was supposed to do? Where was she supposed to go? Mrs. Boine said she had everything she could want right where she was, so why should she go anywhere.
Irene was in Limbo, but at least now she knew she wasn’t the only ghost. She found that ghosts tended to have an aura about them. She couldn’t help but wonder – Where’s the bright light? – like in the Ghost Whisperer.
She found herself in front of a house and noticed the name Johnson.Why did that sound familiar to her? Then she remembered, the kid, Jonah could see her and his name had been Johnson. But what could a 14-year-old kid tell her? She felt she had to talk to him. She went in the house, even though he wasn’t home, and she hadn’t been invited in. It was obvious from his bedroom he was alive and well. But why could he see her? She knew he could be unseen, invisible to others, too. Why? How?
She left a note and hoped he would come find her. When he did, he told her he found a book with spells, about astral projection and transcendental meditation. They talked about what he had discovered from reading books. She kept asking him questions. How would she get to the afterlife? What was ahead for her?
“You’re like a two-year old, you know that,” was his response.
And so began their journey to find the answers that would help Irene move on.
4 STARS – Would Highly Recommend To Others
Pretty cover and an appropriate title.
I got some chuckles when…..Well, I can’t tell you. For the subject of death, I really like Terri Bruce’s approach to it and the afterlife and the time in between. How would you react? What would you feel like if life went on without you? Is there life after death? Funny light-hearted look at death. A lot of food for thought in this book.
Irene – was a spoiled rotten brat. Selfish. The 14-year-old kid acted more like an adult than she did. She didn’t put her full effort into her job, even though she liked it. Definitely liked drinking and had no qualms about calling in sick, after partying all night. She felt she had done what she was supposed to do, wasn’t that enough? She had an education, a good job, family, friends and a love life. What else was there?
Jokes
“Why aren’t ghosts good at telling lies?” ” Because you can see right through them.”
“…what kind of mistakes do ghosts make…” “Boo-boos.”
“What kind of street does a host live on?” “A dead-end.”
“Who does a ghost invite to his party?” “Anyone he can dig up.”
Quotes
“Cops Undead: Miami”
“Today is the first day of your afterlife”
“You can’t come in. I didn’t invite you. ”That’s vampires.” “
“Here take my sock, it’s stinky, just like you”
Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious
The book brought to mind Charmed, Supernatural and Ghost Whisperer, three TV shows that deal with magic, death, ghosts, the supernatural, the paranormal……when Irene and Jonah talked about scrying, finding lost objects, spells…..made me think of all three shows.
Maybe ignorance is bliss. Maybe we are better off not knowing what is to come. What is life about? The infamous, why me? Regrets? Set a wrong right? Unfinished business. Who does the judging? What are the rules?
The ending wraps it up nicely and left me with a warm fuzzy feeling and a smile. All’s well that ends well, went through my mind.
Hereafter on Goodreads | Shelfari | Library Thing
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ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Terri Bruce has been making up adventure stories for as long as she can remember and won her first writing award when she was twelve. Like Anne Shirley, she prefers to make people cry rather than laugh, but is happy if she can do either. She produces fantasy and adventure stories from a haunted house in New England where she lives with her husband and three cats. Her second novel, Thereafter (Afterlife #2), will be released May 1, 2014.
Website/Blog / Goodreads / Facebook / Twitter
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